OAKLAND — Ron Rushing and Nidia Larios on Saturday stepped from a sleek, black limousine and into the next phase of their lives together as husband and wife.

Rushing, 58, and Larios, 45, were among the 39 betrothed couples to wed Saturday morning at the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s office in downtown Oakland. In Martinez, the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder’s office also opened its doors for four hours to perform 32 weddings on the most romantic day of the year, said assistant recorder Barbara Dunmore.

Rushing had stopped at a Walmart in Fremont to pick up some ice for the party bus he drives when he first saw Larios, who was working customer service. Soon Rushing was returning frequently to the store to chat with Larios in Spanish, which impressed her.

The couple, together three years, share a penchant for the fried chicken wings at Dorsey’s Locker in Oakland and the Bee Gee’s, he said. On Saturday, they had one of the first appointments for a wedding ceremony. Rushing wore a dapper black suit with a matching button that read “Groom to Be” pinned to his lapel. Larios complemented her white halter dress with a pale pink “Bride to Be” button and silver high-heeled sandals.

Rushing candidly admitted this is his third time “at the rodeo” — it’s Larios’s second — but this time, he added, he’s doing it for the right reason.

“I’m marrying this woman because I’m deeply in love with her,” said Rushing, who wept openly during the ceremony.

Kevin Hing, division chief of the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s office, organized 15 employees who volunteered to work Valentine’s Day. Staff members decorated the three wedding chapels with pink and red balloons, vases of roses and arches draped in yards of white tulle. In 2013, the clerk-recorder’s office performed 42 weddings on Valentine’s Day. That number blossomed to 76 last year, when the holiday fell on a Friday, according to department records.

“Valentine’s Day is a very popular day to get married,” said Steve Manning, Auditor Controller Clerk-Recorder for Alameda County. “I look at all the smiles on the faces; they’re happy to get married on Valentine’s Day and we’re happy to do this.”

Donna Almendrala and Chris Joel were the second couple in line waiting for the clerk-recorder’s office to open at 9 a.m. Although the pair had friends in common while attending Foothill High School in Pleasanton, they didn’t start dating until Almendrala’s last year at UC Berkeley. Joel, a 28-year-old software engineer, proposed in October during a visit to the Ghibli Museum, an animation museum in Tokyo, Japan. Shocked by the cost of a formal wedding, the young couple decided to elope — without telling their families.

Although the Oakland residents exchange chocolates on Valentine’s Day, they didn’t choose to marry Saturday because they love the holiday.

“We usually do something nice, but we’re not obsessed with it,” Joel said dryly.

But now the day known for Cupid, pastel conversation hearts and red roses forever will be their wedding anniversary.

“It feels a little cliché,” said Almendrala, a 27-year-old cartoonist. “But it was just too convenient because it was a Saturday and our friends are here.”

Joel and Almendrala have been together almost eight years. But for some couples, the road from first date to the altar is considerably shorter.

Juan Ayala, 32, and Sandra Urquillo, 25, met at a restaurant eight months ago and were engaged six months later.